Too many woes to count for KU football

• MORE WOES FOR KU OTHER THAN QUARTERBACK — So, they say, there’s a quarterback controversy at KU.

It would be big news if the Jayhawks didn’t have so many other problems. The quarterback position is the least of their worries.

It really doesn’t matter who quarterbacks the Jayhawks, Peyton Bender or Carter Stanley. Because the quarterback’s main job is to get the team out of a cavernous first-quarter hole that has been the trademark of the Jayhawks this year. Nearly all of their games have been decided in the first 15 minutes.

Quite frankly, the only difference between Bender and Stanley is their number.

After having a week off to prepare for homecoming and Texas Tech, all KU did last Saturday was come out and give up 21 points before the alleged crowd — very alleged — of 21,000 had a chance to get comfortable.

The story of the Jayhawks is perhaps the worst defense in college football. Much is made of defensive linemen Dorrance Armstrong and Daniel Wise, but their talents are being wasted by the fact the linebackers and defensive backs simply are not D-I level.

As a Kansas alum, it’s sad to see the program having reached so far rock bottom that I can’t see it recovering. A few months ago the Jayhawk fans were energized by receiving some top-notch prep commits thanks to the hard work of assistant coach Tony Hull, many of them thought to be among the better recruits in the country, but after witnessing the disaster going on I have a feeling those oral commitments will soon become de-commits.

There’s becoming more hue and cry about the school going as far as dropping the program. I really don’t see that happening, but think of the money that would be saved. Kansas is so far behind the other teams in the Big 12 in terms of talent that it makes Kansas State’s woes back in the 1960s and 1970s look minor.

It’s time for Sports Illustrated to come out and do another article like it did about Kansas State during the dark days of Wildcat football. Instead it would be about the Jayhawks.

• KSU WILL BOUNCE BACK — Kansas State missed a golden opportunity to have a share of the Big 12 lead last week with its overtime loss to Texas.

I have to admit, nobody was higher on the Wildcats in the preseason than me, believing this offense would be a ground-gobbling unit with big-play passing potential, while the defense would be better than adequate.

The Wildcats are 3-2, but should be 5-0. There’s no way Vanderbilt has more talent and the Texas loss was perplexing.

I never, ever question what Bill Snyder is doing. The guy is a coaching genius, one of the five best in the country. Yet, if I had a back like Alex Barnes, he would be getting the ball 20 to 25 times. And Jesse Ertz hasn’t run as much as I would have thought, now there’s a chance he might not start Saturday as he’s dinged up. But former Hays star Alex Delton looked darn good in his stead and looks like he can play at this level. I never thought Delton would be able to play much for the Wildcats, but he earned an “A” for his performance on Saturday.

The Wildcats are going to be just fine. It starts with Saturday’s home game with TCU and a win would vault them into a first-place tie. I see the Wildcats having their best game of the year and pulling off the upset.

• BIG 12 STILL ALL OFFENSE — I watch games of some of the other Power 5 Football Conferences and there’s something they have that the Big 12 doesn’t.

Defense.

Big 12 games remind me of those on the playground or the back yards when I was a kid. It’s offense, offense, offense, with little regard for defense. You very seldom see a team winning a game unless it scores 30 to 40 points. Texas’ 17-7 victory over Iowa State 2 weeks ago looked like a first-quarter score.

While the games are wildly entertaining, the lack of defense is one reason the Big 12 doesn’t grab the attention of the national pundits and also why the Big 12 hasn’t a national champion for a while.